He therefore who supplies the Spirit to you and does miracles among you, does he do it by the works of the law, or by hearing of faith?
Parallel Translations
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He therefore who supplies the Spirit to you and does miracles among you, does he do it by the works of the law, or by hearing of faith?
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Which ministered to you the sprete and worketh myracles amonge you doth he it thorow the dedes of the lawe or by preachinge of the fayth?
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He therefore that ministreth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it through the workes of the Law, or by the hearing of faith preached?
Cross-references (11)
Passages linked to Galatians 3:5 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Galatians 3:2 I just want to learn this from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by hearing of faith?
- Acts 14:9-10 He was listening to Paul speaking, who, fastening eyes on him, and seeing that he had faith to be made whole, said with a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet!” He leaped up and walked.
- Acts 19:11-12 God worked special miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were carried away from his body to the sick, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out.
- Acts 14:3 Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who testified to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.
- 1 Corinthians 1:4-5 I always thank my God concerning you, for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus; that in everything you were enriched in him, in all speech and all knowledge;
- 2 Corinthians 13:3 seeing that you seek a proof of Christ who speaks in me; who toward you is not weak, but is powerful in you.
- Romans 15:19 in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of God’s Spirit; so that from Jerusalem, and around as far as to Illyricum, I have fully preached the Good News of Christ;
- 2 Corinthians 10:4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the throwing down of strongholds,
- 2 Corinthians 12:12 Truly the signs of an apostle were worked among you in all perseverance, in signs and wonders and mighty works.
- 1 Corinthians 12:10 and to another workings of miracles; and to another prophecy; and to another discerning of spirits; to another different kinds of languages; and to another the interpretation of languages.
- 2 Corinthians 3:8 won’t service of the Spirit be with much more glory?
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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Martin Luther 1535 · Public Domain VERSE 5. He therefore that ministereth to you the…
VERSE 5. He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
This argument based on the experience of the Galatians, pleased the Apostle so well that he returns to it after he had warned them against their twofold danger. "You have not only received the Spirit by the preaching of the Gospel, but by the same Gospel you were enabled to do things." "What things?" we ask. Miracles. At least the Galatians had manifested the striking fruits of faith which true disciples of the Gospel manifested in those days. On one occasion the Apostle wrote: "The kingdom of God is not in word, but in power." This "power" revealed itself not only in readiness of speech, but in demonstrations of the supernatural ability of the Holy Spirit.
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When the Gospel is preached unto faith, hope, love, and patience, God gives His wonder-working Spirit. Paul reminds the Galatians of this. "God had not only brought you to faith by my preaching. He had also sanctified you to bring forth the fruits of faith. And one of the fruits of your faith was that you loved me so devotedly that you were willing to pluck out your eyes for me." To love a fellow-man so devotedly as to be ready to bestow upon him money, goods, eyes in order to secure his salvation, such love is the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
"These products of the Spirit you enjoyed before the false apostles misled you," the Apostle reminds the Galatians. "But you haven’t manifested any of these fruits under the regime of the Law. How does it come that you do not grow the same fruits now? You no longer teach truly; you do not believe boldly; you do not live well; you do not work hard; you do not bear things patiently. Who has spoiled you that you no longer love me; that you are not now ready to pluck out your eyes for me? What has happened to cool your personal interest in me?"
The same thing happened to me. When I began to proclaim the Gospel, there were many, very many who were delighted with our doctrine and had a good opinion of us. And now? Now they have succeeded in making us so odious to those who formerly loved us that they now hate us like poison.
Paul argues: "Your experience ought to teach you that the fruits of love do not grow on the stump of the Law. You had not virtue prior to the preaching of the Gospel and you have no virtues now under the regime of the false apostles."
We, too, may say to those who misname themselves "evangelical" and flout their new-found liberty: Have you put down the tyranny of the Pope and obtained liberty in Christ through the Anabaptists and other fanatics? Or have you obtained your freedom from us who preach faith in Christ Jesus? If there is any honesty left in them they will have to confess that their freedom dates from the preaching of the Gospel.
Martin Luther — Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians (1535), English translation by Theodore Graebner (Zondervan, 1939) — public domain (U.S. copyright not renewed). Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 5. He therefore that ministereth. He is not now…
5. He therefore that ministereth. He is not now speaking of the grace of regeneration, but of the other gifts of the Spirit; for a subject different from the preceding one is manifestly introduced. He warns them that all the gifts of the Holy Spirit, in which they excelled, are the fruits of the gospel, of that gospel which had been preached among them by his own lips. Their new teachers deprived them of those gifts when they left the gospel, and fled to another kind of doctrine. In proportion to the value which they attached to those gifts, to which the apostle here adds miracles, they ought the more carefully and resolutely to adhere to the gospel.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain He repeateth the third argument which was taken of…
He repeateth the third argument which was taken of the effects, because he had interlaced certain other arguments by the way.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 5 He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit,…
5 He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
Ver. 5. Or by the hearing of faith] Faith (and so life) is let into the soul by the sense of hearing, Isa 55:1-3, to cross the devil, who by the same door brought death into the world.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain He had asked them, Gal 3:2, whether they had…
He had asked them, Gal 3:2, whether they had received the Spirit by the works of the law, or by hearing the gospel? Some think what he saith here to be a continuation of the same argument, but it rather seems a new one: there he spake of their receiving the Spirit, here he speaks of the ministration of the Spirit. Some understand it of God, who gives his Holy Spirit to them that ask him, and who was the Author of those miraculous operations wrought by the Spirit. I should rather understand it of the ministers of the gospel, to whom God hath committed the ministration of the Spirit; and to some of whom God, in the primitive times, gave a power to work miracles.
Doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Doth God concur with our ministry upon our preaching the law, or upon our preaching the gospel? So that though there be a great cognation between the apostle’s arguing, Gal 3:2, and his arguing in this verse, yet there is some difference; the apostle there arguing from the success of preaching the gospel, here from the ministration itself.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain Observe here, 1. That God did accompany the first…
Observe here, 1. That God did accompany the first preaching and planting of the gospel with the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, with a power to work miracles, to heal diseases, and to speak with tongues which were so many attestations and confirmations that the doctrine of the gospel was from God; for here St. Paul appeals to the Galatians, as men that had the Spirit and miracles amongst them, He that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles; implying, that almighty God had given to them his holy Spirit, both in the sanctifying graces, and miraculous gifts of it.
Observe, 2. That the Spirit thus communicated in the first and early days of Christianity, was not given to the Galatians, or any other Gentiles, by the preaching of the law, but by the ministry and dispensation of the gospel, which is here called the hearing of faith: He that ministereth to you the Spirit, doth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
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Learn hence, that although the gifts and graces of God’s holy Spirit are conveyed to the hearers of the gospel by the ministry of the word, yet God is the author, the minister, and dispenser of them, and the gospel only the instrument and mean of their conveyance: He ministereth to you the Spirit.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit,.... By…
He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit,.... By whom he means not himself, nor any other minister of the Gospel, in whose power it does not lie to minister the Spirit, either the ordinary or the extraordinary gifts of it unto men; but either God or Christ who had ministered, and still continued to minister the grace of the Spirit through the preaching of the Gospel; or rather the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, which were manifested at the first preaching of the Gospel to them for the confirmation of it, and which they were still supplied with, as the following words show:
and worketh miracles among you; so that this is a distinct argument from that in Gal 3:2 and a further proof and aggravation of the folly and stupidity of the members of this church, who had not only received through the Gospel the Spirit, as a spirit of regeneration, at least many of them, but had seen the Gospel confirmed by the extraordinary gifts, signs, and wonders of the Holy Ghost, and which were still among them; and yet they were departing from this Gospel, through which all this was done: for it is asked,
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doth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? and the apostle's meaning is, that these extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, and these miracles done among them, did not attend the preaching of the law, or the doctrine of justification by works, taught by the false apostles, but the doctrine of faith, of justification by faith in the righteousness of Christ, delivered by him and others, for the truth of which he appeals to themselves; and therefore they must be guilty of the most egregious folly, once to think of, or take anyone step towards a departure from that doctrine. The Alexandrian copy reads here, as in Gal 3:2, "received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?"
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain And, at the present time, Doth he that ministereth…
And, at the present time, Doth he that ministereth the gift of the Spirit to you, and worketh miracles among you, do it by the works of the law - That is, in confirmation of his preaching justification by works, or of his preaching justification by faith?
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 5. He therefore that ministereth to you the…
Verse 5. He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit] The apostle means himself: he had been the means of conveying the Holy Spirit to them, and by that Spirit he wrought miracles among them; and he did all this, not as a Jew, (for as such he had no power,) but he did all as a believer in Christ. The word επιχορηγων, which we translate ministereth, is very emphatic, and signifies leading up the chorus, bringing up one after another, adding grace to grace, benefit to benefit; so that it appears that they had not only some, but many benefits; God, by means of his apostle, having greatly enriched them with various spiritual blessings.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Gal 3:5-9. He therefore — Namely, God; that ministereth…
Gal 3:5-9. He therefore — Namely, God; that ministereth to you the Spirit — Who is continually giving you additional supplies of grace by the Spirit; and worketh miracles, &c. — Bestows the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit upon you; doeth he it by the works of the law — Through your hearing and embracing the doctrine of those who inculcate the necessity of observing the ceremonies of the law; or by the hearing of faith — By your hearing, receiving, and acquiescing in the doctrine of justification and salvation by faith in Christ and his gospel? Or doeth he it in confirmation of men’s preaching justification by observing regal rites, or of their preaching justification by faith? Even as Abraham, &c. — Doubtless he does it in confirmation of that grand doctrine, that we are justified by faith even as Abraham was. The apostle, both in this and in the epistle to the Romans, makes great use of the instance of Abraham; the rather, because from Abraham the Jews drew their great argument (as they do at this day) both for their own continuance in Judaism, and for denying the Gentiles to be the church of God. As Abraham believed God — When God said, Thy seed shall be as the stars; and it was accounted to him for righteousness — Because his belief of this promise implied that he entertained just conceptions of the divine power, goodness, and veracity. See notes on Rom 4:3-22. Know then that they which are of faith — Who receive God’s truths and promises in faith, relying on the power, goodness, and faithfulness of God to fulfil them; the same are the children of Abraham — Show themselves to be his spiritual children, of the same disposition with him, and entitled to the same blessings of which he was the heir. And the Scripture — That is, the Holy Spirit, by whose inspiration the Holy Scriptures were written; foreseeing that God would justify the heathen — When he should call them by his grace, in the same manner as he justified Abraham; only through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham — Declared to him the glad tidings of salvation; saying, In, or through thee — As the father of the Messiah; shall all nations — Gentiles as well as Jews; be blessed — That is to say, by their faith in that glorious person who is to descend from thee, all persons, of whatever nation they be, who imitate thy ready and obedient faith, shall obtain justification, and all other blessings, as Abraham did by his faith. So then — The inference to be drawn is; all they — And they only; who are of faith — Who believe God as Abraham did, and show their faith by their works; are blessed with faithful Abraham — Shall inherit the promises made to him, and the blessings promised, though they are as he was when he first received these promises, in a state of uncircumcision, and always remain in that state, and never comply with the ceremonies of the Mosaic law.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain He therefore that ministereth ... - This verse contains…
He therefore that ministereth ... - This verse contains substantially a repetition of the argument in Gal 3:2. The argument is, that the gift of the Holy Spirit to them was not imparted in consequence of the observance of the Law of Moses, but in connection with the preaching of the gospel. By the word “he” in this place, Clarke, Doddridge, Bloomfield, Chandler, Locke and many others, suppose that the apostle means himself Bloomfield says, that it is the common opinion of “all the ancient commentators.” But this seems to me a strange opinion. The obvious reference, it seems to me, is to God, who had furnished or imparted to them the remarkable influences of the Holy Spirit, and this had been done in connection with the preaching of the gospel, and not by the observance of the Law. If, however, it refers to Paul, it means that he had been made the agent or instrument in imparting to them those remarkable endowments, and that this had been done by one who had not enforced the necessity of obeying the Law of Moses, but who had preached to them the simple gospel.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain He . . . that ministereth--or "supplieth," God (Co2…
He . . . that ministereth--or "supplieth," God (Co2 9:10). He who supplied and supplies to you the Spirit still, to the present time. These miracles do not prove grace to be in the heart (Mar 9:38-39). He speaks of these miracles as a matter of unquestioned notoriety among those addressed; an undesigned proof of their genuineness (compare 1Co. 12:1-31).
worketh miracles among you--rather, "IN you," as Gal 2:8; Mat 14:2; Eph 2:2; Phi 2:13; at your conversion and since [ALFORD].
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doeth he it by the works of the law--that is, as a consequence resulting from (so the Greek) the works of the law (compare Gal 3:2). This cannot be because the law was then unknown to you when you received those gifts of the Spirit.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain The Abrahamic faith-covenant—is superior to law, which works curse,…
The Abrahamic faith-covenant—is superior to law, which works curse, Gal_3:5-14.
5. He—God.
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Ministereth—Abundantly supplies.
Worketh miracles— Rather, inworketh within you miraculous powers. Endoweth you with the power of performing miracles. This assumes that the Galatians had performed miracles, but not as Judaizers.
Faith—In its various uses in the Bible the word faith ranges through the various meanings of belief, trust, fidelity, trustworthiness. And in the Christian signification of justification, these four ideas are embraced; though in particular cases some one of the four may be most prominent. And true faith, beginning with belief, runs through and includes the other three. The man who has this faith in God is in sympathy with God. And in special ages of divine dispensation that sympathy becomes the medium of supernatural intercourse, and so, as in the apostolic age, even with these Galatians there were the inworkings of miraculous powers. And Paul here appeals to them to say whether these were not the result of faith.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 5. He therefore] St Paul, after a digression in…
5. He therefore] St Paul, after a digression in which he rebukes their folly in reversing the true order of the soul’s progress (Gal_3:3) and in relinquishing the truth which they had embraced at the cost even of persecution (Gal_3:4) resumes the appeal of Gal_3:2 in another form. ‘He then, as I was saying, &c.’
The reference has hitherto been to the time when they first embraced the Gospel. It is now directed to that continued supply of the spirit which God graciously bestowed upon His Church, as combined with, and manifested by the exercise of miraculous powers.
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He … ministereth] ‘He then (i.e. God) who graciously bestoweth on you, &c.’ The force of the word ‘ministereth’ (R.V. ‘supplieth’) may be understood by reference to the use of it elsewhere, e.g. 2Co_9:10; Php_1:19.
worketh miracles] For the different terms employed in N. T. to designate the supernatural operations of the Holy Ghost through human agency, see Trench On the Miracles, chap. 1; esp. p. 6 for the term ‘powers’ used here.
among you] Perhaps, ‘in you’, both as more personal, and as agreeing with 1Co_12:6; Php_2:13. See also Mat_14:2, R.V.
by the works … or by] Rather, ‘from the works … or from’ &c. The preposition denotes rather the consequence or result, than the means.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (5) The appeal by which the Apostle sought to…
(5) The appeal by which the Apostle sought to check the defection of his thoughtless converts was not only an appeal to their past experience, when first they listened to his own preaching, but also to their present experience of facts that they saw actually going on among them. The first great outpouring of the Spirit, both in its miraculous and non-miraculous forms, though checked, had not entirely ceased; and the Galatians might thus see, simply by looking around them, that the channel which God chose for conveying His gifts was not that upon which the Judaisers insisted—the Law—but rather the preaching of faith. Where the faith implanted by the Apostle’s preaching still showed signs of vital growth, there the gifts of the Spirit were seen in connection with it; but not amongst the Judaisers and their party.
Therefore.—This word takes up again the question which had been started in Gal_3:2, but brings it down, as it were, to the present time. The opposition between the effects of faith, on the one hand, and works, on the other, was conspicuous when the Galatians were first converted; it is as conspicuous still. The argument is the same, whichever standpoint is assumed.
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Ministereth.—The notion contained in this word is not only that of “supply,” but of “liberal supply.” At Athens it was the custom for wealthy citizens to bear the cost of bringing out the chorus—which was practically equivalent to putting a play upon the stage—at the great public feasts. The word translated “ministereth” was the technical term for this. The same word is used in 2Co_9:10; Col_2:19; 2Pe_1:5; 2Pe_1:11. In three out of the four places it is rendered by the same word “minister;” in 2Pe_1:5 it appears in the phrase “add to your faith virtue” (rather, furnish forth in your faith virtue—i.e., “let your faith prompt you to abundant acts of virtue”). “He that ministereth” is, of course, God.
Worketh miracles among you.—The Greek means not so much “causes miracles to be wrought in your midst” as “implants in you miraculous powers.” The power to work miracles is regarded as a special faculty bestowed by God upon individual Christians. The means by which they become receptive of it is that enthusiastic condition aroused in them by faith. Mere formal obedience to a written law had no such efficacy.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and…
He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you (oJ oun ejpicorhgwn uJmin to Pneuma kaimeiv ejn uJmin); he then that supplieth to you the Spirit and worketh powers in you, or, miracles among you. The "then" marks the taking up afresh of the topic brought forward in ver. 2, with especial prominence given here to the miraculous manifestations of the Spirit"s presence. The argumentative treatment of this topic of the gift of the Spirit was interrupted in vers. 3 and 4 by curt, strongly emotional interrogatories, darted forth upon the apostle"s recollecting the animated spirituality which marked those early days of their discipleship. The impassioned desultoriness of his language here, together with its abrupt, niggardly wording, is paralleled by Gal_4:10-20. Perhaps these features in the form of the composition were in part occasioned by the circumstance that he was writing this Epistle with his own hand and not through an amanuensis; such manual exertion being, it should seem, unusual with him, and from some cause even laborious and painful: and so from time to time he appears, as it were, laying down the pen, to rest, to quell emotion, to reflect. The compound verb ejpicorhgein, supply, differs probably from the simple form corhgein only by indicating profusion in the supply; but this qualification of its meaning is too slight to be representable in translation. Besides 2Pe_1:5, 2Pe_1:11, we find it in 2Co_9:10, "He that supplieth (oJ ejpicorhgwn) seed shall supply (corhghsei) and multiply your seed for sowing;" Col_2:19, "From whom all the body being supplied;" 1Pe_4:11, "As of the strength which God sup-plieth." And with similar application the substantive "supply" (ejpicorhgia) in Php_1:19, "Supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ;" Eph_4:16, "Through every joint of the supply." These passages make it clear that "he that supplieth" is no other than God. And this conclusion is borne out by the comparing of the other clause, worketh powers in you," with 1Co_12:6, "It is the same God (oJ ejnergwn who worketh all in all" (referring to the charismata) which passage shows that powers"(dunameiv) are not miracles" themselves as in Mat_7:22 Mat_11:20, and often, but power to work miracles, the plural number pointing to the various forms of its manifestation, as in rgwn 1Co_12:10, 1Co_12:28, 1Co_12:29. The apostle uses the present participles ejpicorhgwn and ejnergwn as describing an agency which the Almighty was continually putting forth among believers in general, including the Galatian Churches themselves. Doeth he it by the works of the Law, or by the hearing of faith? (ejx e nomou h ejx ajkohv pistewv;) in consequence of works of the Law or of the hearing of faith? With the sparingness of words above noted, the apostle barely jots down, so to speak, the substance of the interrogative dilemma, without filling in the form of the question. The suppletion would naturally be that of our version, "doeth he it." The substance of the argument apparently required no more than, as before, the question Was it in consequence of works of the Law or of the hearing of faith that the Spirit and his wonderworking powers were received? But instead of putting it so, St. Paul interposes the personality of the great God himself as imparting these great gifts, making his sentence thereby the more stately and impressive: it is with God in the might of his working that these corrupters of the gospel have to reckon. The impartation of the Spirit and the charisms evidenced God"s complacency in the recipients. On what was that complacency founded? on their earning it by ceremonial performances, or on their simply opening their hearts to receive his love? It was a question which the Galatian Churchmen might, if they would, see the answer to in experiences of their own. Among themselves these powers had appeared, and no doubt were still operative. "Well, then," says the apostle, "look and see: are they not operative in those only of you who had received them upon the mere acceptance of righteousness offered them through faith in Christ simply, without having given any heed to Mosaic ceremonialism? Have any of you received them after taking up with such ceremonialism?" The apostle, it will be observed and the remark is one of no small importance makes an appeal to simple matters of fact, founded upon his and their own familiar acquaintance with the facts, and defying contradiction. We may be sure, therefore, that the facts were as he indicates, however small the extent may be to which we, with our imperfect knowledge of the circumstances, are ourselves able to verify his statement. In some degree, however, we can. Besides the striking illustration afforded by what occurred in the house of Cornelius, (Act_10:44) we see that such charismata were bestowed, and in some instances, as, e.g. at Corinth, in exceeding great profusion, in the train of St. Paul"s evangelizing ministrations; and how remote those ministrations were from the inculcation, or even the admission, among Gentile converts of Mosaic ceremonialism we know perfectly.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and…
Gal_3:5
He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles.
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Moral inspiration
I. Its nature. The supernatural power of the Holy Spirit in man.
1. In ordinary Christians: regeneration; Christian energy moral influence.
2. In extraordinary ministers, as apostles and prophets: miracles; tongues; prophecy. The latter form intermittent; the former permanent.
II. Its origin. Divine, and therefore to be distinguished from--
1. The intellectual inspiration of genius.
2. The emotional inspiration of rhapsody.
3. The evil inspiration of imposture.
On the lowest possible hypothesis the inspiration of Shakespeare, Mohammed, and Simon Magus must differ not only in degree but in kind from that of St. Paul.
III. Its measure.
1. Sufficient for
(1) the age in which it works;
(2) the purpose for which it is given.
2. According to the capacity of the recipient.
IV. The means of its enjoyment.
1. Not the works of the law. The folly of this supposition may be seen by the endeavour to work for the inspiration of the poet; but poets are born, not made. So are apostles and Christians.
2. By the hearing of faith. We do not call the genius a deserving man, but a gifted man; so is the apostle in working miracles, and the Christian in exerting his influence for good.
Inspiration, literary and moral
The great, the sublime, is almost always something involuntary and unforeseen. The higher we rise in literary creation, the more it seems as though we get effaced, and no longer dispose of ourselves. The mediocre in our achievements is thoroughly our own. We feel this by our fatigue, our exhaustion. The great is given us. We write under dictation; we do not know the source, we cannot predict the arrival. It is ours, and yet not ours. What we are, then, we are by grace; and thus all poets have spoken of their inspiration, of a God in us, of a mens divinior, Remarkable testimony, and too little reflected upon! Oh, why will man, who in his artistic life so readily believes in grace and in the Spirit, in his moral life believe only in himself? Why not understand this confession of poets, and recognize in general that man is not the source but the channel and the organ of all that rises above the habitual level of his life; that he is then only a medium through which the Divine alternately appears and disappears. (Vinet.)
Inspiration to be respected
Let, us respect in each man, whether he be poet or no, the moment--so well named that of inspiration--when he says more than he knows, does more than he can, and becomes more than he is; that mysterious moment when he ceases to comprehend himself, when he honours himself not in what he himself is, but in the word he has just pronounced, the act he has just accomplished; when, perhaps, he trembles at the unforeseen height on which that effort has placed him, because well aware that his own strength cannot sustain him there. It is the Titan raising himself beneath the mountain that crushes him, or some imprisoned god that sighs within our breast. (Vinet.)
The use of miracles
Miracles, says Fuller, are the swaddling-clothes of the infant churches; and, we may add, not the garments of the full-grown. They were as the proclamation that the king was mounting his throne; who, however, is not proclaimed every day, but only at his accession. When he sits acknowledged on his throne, the proclamation ceases. They were as the bright clouds which gather round and announce the sun at his first appearing: his midday splendour, though as full, and fuller indeed, of light and heat, knows not those bright heralds and harbingers of his rising. Or they may be likened to the framework on which the arch is rounded, which framework is taken down as soon as that is completed. (R. C. Trench.)
Miracles of to-day
Miracles are like candles lit up until the sun rises, and then blown out. Therefore, I am amused when I hear sects and Churches talk about having evidence of Divine authority, because they have miracles. Miracles in our time are like candles in the street at midday. We do not want miracles. They are to teach men how to find out truths themselves; and, after they have learned this, they no more need them than a well man needs a staff, or than a grown-up child needs a walking-stool. They are the educating expedients of the early periods of the world. As such, they are divinely wise. After they have served their purpose as such, it is humanly foolish for persons to pretend to have them. There is no teaching in Scripture of a stated providence of miracles. They are not daily helps. They do not even belong to the mere economic relations of men. In secular things, God helps the men that help themselves. (H. W. Beecher.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 5. He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit.…
5. He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit. Did God bestow spiritual gifts and miraculous powers among you as the result of works of the law, or of the hearing of faith? Were these bestowed through the law, or the gospel?
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain He therefore that supplieth to you the Spirit, and…
He therefore that supplieth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? [According to the unvarying rule of Paul's writings, the pronoun "he" in this verse refers to God rather than to God's minister, though the latter reference might make the smoother reading. The idea is this: Does God, who works miracles among you (or perhaps in you-- Gal_2:8 ; Mat_14:2 ; Eph_2:2 ; Phi_2:13 ), do it as a result of your obedience to the law, or because you have heard the gospel and believed it? Verily, by your belief; and so your case is like Abraham's.]
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 3:5 work miracles: See 1 Cor 12:4-11. The Holy…
3:5 work miracles: See 1 Cor 12:4-11. The Holy Spirit is present with believers and in the church because of faith in the message . . . about Christ.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.